Signiant Media Exchange Facilitates Transfer Of Video Assets For Japan's Mainichi Broadcasting System

Signiant, a leading developer of content supply chain management solutions, has announced that its Media Exchange (MX) content sharing solution is at the core of a turnkey digital content transfer service offered by Japanese systems integrator IMAGICA DIGIX.
Japan's Mainichi Broadcasting System (MBS) recently used the new service, called So-Air, to acquire video content from 21 countries for its popular Around the World in 60 Days programme.
In observance of MBS's 60th anniversary Around the World in 60 Days plotted the adventures of Japanese journalist Nishi Yasushi as he travelled to multiple destinations on each continent and sampled the food and local culture along the way. Each day, the engineering team used the So-Air service to file video reports from each location over public internet connections, with Signiant MX providing an easy-to-use, Web browser-based interface for the transfer. Ranging from 200 MB to 500 MB, the video clips were rough-edited in the field and then transferred to the main MBS studio in Osaka for final editing and broadcast.
Koji Yoshida, Assistant Manager, Engineering Administration Division at MBS, said: "Compared to other file transfer solutions we have used, Signiant's MX via the So-Air service is the fastest and most reliable, and it doesn't require specialised hardware - just an Internet connection and a Web browser. This was especially important for our Around the World journalist, who was frequently reporting in from areas with very poor Internet connectivity. Often the connection would be lost in mid-transfer, but MX's 'resume' function ensured that the file would be sent in its entirety once the connection was re-gained. Also, MX's centralised management features enabled us to track and view every transfer from a single dashboard for maximum control and security."
Driven by the IP-based Signiant Acceleration Protocol to maximise network efficiency, MX provides a reliable and secure means for users to exchange content with other users, systems, and applications regardless of location and the size of the digital assets. MX provides a familiar, email-like interface that enables users to send and receive large files up to 200 times faster than TCP and with 95% network efficiency. For highly secure content transfers, MX features internal or integrated directory services authentication and authorisation, with encryption for browser sessions and file transfers.
Yaz Mishima, Director and Chief Technical Officer at IMAGICA DIGIX, said: "With So-Air, we're pioneering the use of 'Signiant as a service' - and MBS has demonstrated just how much the MX solution has to offer for getting video files out of remote locations where the network connections can be difficult. We chose MX for our So-Air service because Signiant offers the most comprehensive solution for handling the challenges associated with file-based workflows. Plus, the Signiant technology has been field-proven in hundreds of global deployments."
Tony LaPolito, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing for Signiant, said: "As shown with Around the World in 60 Days, MX is ideal for contribution of field-generated content for news, sports and events. It's also perfect for media enterprises and other organisations that need the ability to collaborate with remote colleagues for content creation, review and approvals - such as review of digital dailies in motion picture and television production. We're proud to add MBS to our list of media organisations around the world that are relying on Signiant for content supply chain management."
(KMcA)